Phibrizo's Resurrection
by Deneuku-san
Summary: Phibrizo returns to life! Rated PG for some minor swearing.
1. The Awakening

Author's Note: I do not own Slayers or anything related to it, so please don't sue me. Anyway, I normally would have not done this fic, but after visiting phibrizo.com, I have become intrigued with the character that gives the site name. We assume that Hellmaster Phibrizo was killed by the Lord of Nightmares. What if it was only temporary, something just to show him who's boss? This is not a self-insertion fic, before anyone says. It's just written in 1st person because I got tired of trying to think of a name for the narrator. Anyway, on with the fic. Oh, and please review! No flames though, or I'll tell Lina you made fun of her chest!  
  
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Okay, something is wrong here.  
  
I wake up and look around the room. This looks absolutely nothing like the room I fell asleep in. The ceiling is cracked, instead of the bad popcorn job it used to feature. Gone is the navy-blue shag carpet. It has been replaced by bare wooden planks. My old corner desk is gone, and so is it's computer, and the rest of my stuff. The sheets on this bed seem to be hand-sewn. You take a moment to look at yourself. I was so tired last night that you I never even undressed. I are still wearing my favorite black t-shirt, jeans, and black high-tops that I've been meaning to replace ever since the air cushions popped.  
  
I stand and walk to the window. Looking outside, I see that the yard, bushes, and other houses I am accustomed to seeing are gone. Replacing them is a view of a city back in medieval days. Instead of the occasional passing car, the street below (I am on the second floor of this building, apparently) is well populated by horse-drawn carts and people in weird clothes.  
  
It is at this time that a strange smell finds its way to my nostrils. It smells like bacon frying. I think that I'll try to figure this out AFTER breakfast. The mind works better when the body is fed, anyway. I open the door and step out, remembering to close it behind me so that it doesn't look like I was born in a barn or something.  
  
I am at the end of a fairly long hallway. There are other doors all along the hallway that look like 'mine.' At the end of the hallway, there is a staircase leading downward. The delicious bacon aroma is coming from the bottom of those stairs. I follow it as if I were a piece of metal placed in close proximity to a magnet.  
  
When I reach the bottom of the stairs, I find myself in one corner of a large room. The room is full of tables, like a restaurant. I assume this building is an old-fashioned inn. The bacon smell is coming from the other side of a door a few feet from the staircase, which I assume is the kitchen. The place is fairly crowded, but the people that stand out the most are at a table in the corner. A diminutive, red-headed girl is fighting with a big, blonde, dumb-looking guy in blue armor over a plate of sausages. There is also a girl in pink and white clothes, and another guy in a weird, blue mask.  
  
My eyes widen. These are the Slayers, all of them. Lina, Gourry, Amelia, Zelgadis, they're all here! Impossible! Unless...somehow I've entered their world in my sleep. I promptly run over to their table and, with total disregard for my pride, ask Lina for an autograph, pulling out my trusty blue notepad and black pen.  
  
Lina gives me a befuddled look for a moment, but only for a moment. She smiles and signs the cover of my notepad, and I breathe a sigh of relief that she doesn't try to charge me for it. I won't put it past her. "Wow, Lina-san, you're really famous," Amelia chirps. She returns my notepad and smiles at Amelia. "Of course I am!" Her good mood is destroyed, however, when Gourry uses the moment to snatch a few strips of bacon from her plate. He was Fireballed in short order.  
  
My eyes widen even more. This is the Slayers world. And that means...I can learn to do all those really cool spells! So I ask Lina to teach me to use magic. She gives me another confused look. "You want to learn magic from me? Hmm....well, I suppose it makes sense that a prospective mage would seek out the world's most powerful sorceress!"  
  
"But...but Lina-san, you don't know anything about this person! What if he's," Amelia shivers, "unjust?" Zelgadis flatly adds, "Do you even know HOW to teach?"  
  
Lina turns to them. "How hard could it be? And no, Amelia, he couldn't be a bad guy. No faithful fan of mine could possibly be evil!" She looks back to me and begins rubbing her hands together greedily. "Now, let's discuss payment for these lessons. I hope you weren't expecting charity work..."  
  
I simply pull out whatever I have in my jeans pockets and hand them over. Not much. A few bits of loose change from yesterday's lunch, and a pog of Ranma in his female form that my friend gave me. Lina takes the items and looked them over, pockets the change, and begins to scrutinize the pog. "What the hell is this," she finally states.  
  
As if on cue, Xellos teleports into the room, right behind Lina. "Ohayo, Lina-chan," he says with his usual fruity voice, and equally fruity smile fixed to his countenance. Lina's puts a "get away from me before I pound you" look on her face and replies, "What do you want, Xellos." Xellos plucks the pog from her fingers and looks it over. "Interesting little toy, Lina-chan!"   
  
Then he looks at me, or as much as anyone can look at someone with their eyes closed into happy little arches. "And who's your new friend?" Lina sighed. "I don't know who this guy is. He just comes over and begs me to teach him magic, and gives me that thing as part of the payment."  
  
Xellos steps closer to me. I don't know whether to be ecstatic at finally meeting the mazoku behind the screen, or terrified that he's taking such interest in me...or that he's opened his eyes. He holds up the pog. "Tell me, do you know who Scherra is?" I nod, and claim that I am a mazoku as well. I'm not, and I have no damn clue who Scherra is, but I'm curious as to how Xellos will react.  
  
Amelia's eyes bugged out. "Lina-san! You were about to teach magic to a mazoku?!" Zelgadis looks at me incredulously. "If you really are a mazoku, shouldn't know already know magic?" Lina grimaced. I am slowly running out of ideas, so I pull the one stupid trick I can think of. "Darkness beyond twilight," I begin. Gourry is running out the door, screaming "WE BELIEVE YOU! WE BELIEVE YOU!!!"  
  
Lina stands up. "Hey, if you don't know magic, how in the hell can you use the Dragon Slave?!" Uh oh. She's got me there. My mind races for an excuse. "Um...it's the only spell I know?" Xellos giggles. "Oh my, how strange! The only spell you know how to cast is the most powerful spell in all of black magic! Tell me, how did such a thing come to be?"  
  
Oh man, I'm running out of ideas...so I decide on the last resort response. I grin at Xellos and reply, "Sore wa himitsu desu." Xellos gives me a hurt look. "But...but that's MY line!" Amelia chimes in, "Stealing someone else's line..." "Is very unjust," I interrupt. "Now you've stolen my line," Amelia bawls.  
  
Xellos laughs again and puts an arm over my shoulder. "I like the way you think! I think I'll teach you magic instead!" He teleported, taking me with him, to the middle of a desert area. If this is the Slayers world, I surmise that we are somewhere in the Desert of Destruction. "All right, my young apprentice, show me just how powerful that Dragon Slave of yours is," Xellos tells me.  
  
Gulp. I hope this works, otherwise Xellos might not be happy with finding out he's been lied to. I begin..."Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows..." I'm surprised that I can remember the words this easily. Must be all that time on the 'Net.   
  
What's even more surprising though, is that I think it's WORKING. I can feel the wind picking up, and a very strong force building up. "Buried in the flow of time," I continue,"in thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness! Let the fools that stand before us be destroyed by the power that you and I possess! DRAGON SLAVE!"  
  
WOAH!!! Man, this is hard to control! It seems even bigger than the one Lina casts somehow, or maybe that's just me. The Dragon Slave smacks into a nearby mountain, obliterating it. Xellos laughs and puts his arm over my shoulder again. "Oh my, that was very nice to watch!"  
  
Over the next few days, Xellos teaches me spells of many different types. Finally, he teleports us to the inside of an active volcano. "Next test, my apprentice. This volcano is about to blow. The lava is already rising. How do you save yourself?"  
  
My first two ideas were to Raywing out and away from the volcano, but the top is far from the ledge we are on, and I'm not very good with Raywing, so that's out. My second idea is to stop the lava with an ice spell. "Freeze Arrow," I shout. It works, but only for a little while before the ascending magma melts the ice. My mind races, and I finally decide I need a stronger spell. "DEMONA CRYSTAL," I scream, clenching my eyes shut.  
  
An eternity later, Xellos puts his hand on my shoulder again. "You can open your eyes now." As I do, I find myself in a cavern of ice. Not only have I frozen the lava, but the volcano itself. "I wasn't sure about you," Xellos begins, "but now I know it to be true." Much to my surprise, he falls to one knee. "Welcome back to the lands of the living, Lord Hellmaster Phibrizo."  
  
I ask him what he's talking about, and he points to the iced-over lava below. In the reflection of the ice, I no longer see my own face. My persona is replaced by that of a small boy, possibly 10 or 12, wearing mostly blue. My hair, in the reflection, is no longer its normal brownish-blonde, but has turned jet black. I look at myself to find that I am the same as I was this morning. How?  
  
"My only guess about your appearance, Lord Hellmaster, is that you have not fully reawakened from your death, and that L-sama decided to put your mazoku spirit into this body." Still not fully understanding what's going on, I look back down to the ice. I can't be the Hellmaster! I just can't! But the ice, and my inner self, reveal it to be true. Soon, I may totally lose myself and become Phibrizo completely. I suppose I'll just cross that bridge when I come to it. 


	2. The Confrontation

Author's Note: No, that was not the only chapter! I was just waiting around for someone to review before I bothered to write another. After all, if no one is reading anything you write, what's the point of writing?  
  
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I am lying awake in my bedroll. Lina and the others had long since moved on, and we finally caught up with them. I can't help but mull over Xellos' parting words. "Mei-ou-sama, you must not let Lina-chan and the others find out who you really are. They will most certainly try to kill you, should they realize somehow that you are the Hellmaster, and I don't want to have to explain to my master that her 'brother' was killed again..."  
  
I look over at my current travel companions. Zelgadis, no closer to his cure than before he met Lina. Amelia, punching at an invisible "enemy of justice" in her sleep. Gourry, sleeping on a nearby rock and still in his armor. Lina, seeming strangely angelic as she peacefully rests. I smile brightly as I look at them. They look so easy to kill...  
  
Did I just think that?!? Oh man, it's starting. Phibrizo is taking over. I decide to just try to get to sleep and think about it later. Wait, if I really am Mei-ou, shouldn't I be able to summon those soul orb things? Where are they? Apparently, that question is short-lived. Just thinking about them made three or four soul orbs appear in my palm. I send them away, not wanting to kill anyone...yet, anyway.  
  
The next morning, all seemed to be fairly calm. While I enjoyed it, some feeling deep down inside wanted to set this place ablaze and kill Lina. Man, Phib, don't you ever take a break? Anyway, as I rolled up my bedroll and started along, two things became apparent. Zelgadis has been giving me strange looks, as if he senses there is something wrong about me. The other thing is that I can feel Xellos teleporting around in the woods around this path. Juu-ou must have ordered him to look after me until...until I become a demon again...  
  
We stop at a small lake because Lina is getting hungry again. After a little fishing (read: Lina Fireballed the stream and made everyone else collect the pre-cooked fish,) we sat down to eat. Well, Lina and Gourry, anyway. There doesn't seem to be enough for everyone with those two around. Thinking ahead, I go down to get some water out of the lake for the trip to come. Out here, by this beautiful lake, I have peace of mind, though my darker alter-life seems to disagree. This peace is shattered, however, when I hear someone shouting "I KNEW IT!"  
  
I narrowly avoid a Ra Tilt as I ask what's going on. "So, the Hellmaster has been reborn," Zelgadis says. Sure enough, behind me, my "true" form was reflected in the lake's waters. Gourry looks visibly afraid. Lina stands up, fire dancing in her eyes. "I thought I killed you, Phibrizo! What are you doing here?" Amelia, recognizing me, obviously, climbs a tree and begins into a speech about destroying me in the name of justice, but everyone tunes her out.  
  
This is bad. Really bad. Let's see..."What's a Hellmaster," I ask, playing dumb. Lina is becoming visibly enraged. "What do you mean, 'What's a Hellmaster?' Don't you even try to play dumb! You're the HELLBRAT!" That last word is screamed in my face as Lina's head grows to about three times her body size. "Darkness beyond twilight..."  
  
I summon four soul orbs and begin juggling them. "I wouldn't do that! My toys are very fragile. My excellent hand-eye coordination may fail if you attempt to Dragon Slave me." Then the realization hits me. Phibrizo already is in control, to an extent. I am losing myself... 


	3. The Meeting

Author's Note: Thank you, my readers, for your reviews. Without them, I would have abandoned this fic at the end of the first chapter. And I'm sorry this took a while, but other, more important things caught my attention.  
  
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So here I am, staring death right in the eye. I never would have guessed that the Grim Reaper was a red-headed sorceress with a chest as flat as cardboard. But here I am, the reincarnated form of Hellmaster Phibrizo, staring down Lina Inverse one more time.  
  
I conclude that there is too much power around at the moment for me to deal with at this time. As I am still in a human form (and I've taken Phibrizo to be a part of me now, thus I will refer to both of us as I), I decide to just take a hostage and get the hell out of Dodge. Now, who will it be? Lina is out of the question, and so is Zelgadis. That leaves Gourry and Amelia. Amelia would drive me nuts, so...  
  
I Raywing over to Gourry, grab him, and begin an upward ascent. Gourry gives up trying to hurt me and just hangs on to my waist. "Don't worry Gourry-san, I'll save you with the hammer of justice!" And with that, Amelia leaps from her tree, grabbing onto his leg and slowly climbing up. Oh well, looks like I'll have to take a second hostage. As she's about to belt me, I grab her, toss her over to the other side, and grab her clothes, letting her hang upside-down.  
  
I continue my flight to a nearby forest, where I pick up the smiling form of Xellos, perched in a tree. After burying Gourry and Amelia up to their necks, my ears prick up as I hear Xellos clapping, shortly followed by explosions. Lina's following me.  
  
It would appear, however, that no deaths are on the schedule today. Xellos teleports down to the ground. He is standing in between the Slayers and I, right in the crossfire. "Oh my, what a hostile situation we have here! Gomen nasai, Lina-chan, but you cannot kill him yet. My master wants to catch up with her 'brother.'" And with that, we teleported.  
  
I was expecting that Wolf Pack Island looked this dismal. We appeared in the middle of a dark, dense forest, at the entrance to a massive keep. We went inside and, as of now, are traveling down a very long hallway. The floor, ceiling, and walls of this hallway are bare stone, and cold. Apparently, Juu-ou has very particular tastes about how she wants her domain to look. Wolves seem to be following us all over the place. I feel as if they are going to pounce me, though I know they won't.  
  
This, obviously, doesn't happen, especially since I am with Xellos, and the wolves seem to have great respect for him. Not surprising. After all, he is the most powerful mazoku under Ruby-Eye-sama's subordinates, one of those being, apparently, me. Xellos stops at the end of the hallway and gives me a slight bow, signalling me to enter the door there. The door almost seems to be solid gold, with silver handles to it.  
  
I open the door and find exactly what I expected on the other side. There, in the very slight illumination emanating from an unknown source above, sat the Greater Beast herself, Xelas. Xellos introduced us and then proceeded to get the hell out of there. Experience has been a great teacher, and eavesdropping on one of Juu-ou's conversations can be very dangerous.  
  
Juu-ou gives me a predatory grin. She's always been like that. I shouldn't be so nervous. "So," she begins, "you've finally come back to us, Phibrizo...though not entirely. It seems that Okaasama wasn't done teaching you a lesson." She smiles (and god it's creepy when she does), and lights a cigarette. "Would you mind not doing that? I'm still in a human body, you know." She frowns, but respects my suggestion. Well, I am above her, sort of, so...  
  
"Was there anything you wanted to talk to me about?" Juu-ou orders one of her servants to get her a drink, and she has it seconds later. Well trained, I suppose. "No, no, just wanted to see you." I frown now. "Then, in that case, you've seen me, and I'm going. I've got to get back to work on destroying the world." And with that, I teleport (on my own now, my powers must be reawakening). I reappear within my temple. I can still hear the souls trapped in my crystals, writhing and screaming in unending agony.  
  
It's good to be home.  
  
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Author's note: This is NOT the end of the story! I'm going to write more, but only if I get reviews, so get to it! 


	4. The Realization

Author's Note: This chapter's kinda dark, just so you know. And once again, thank you all for your reviews. You people give me the determination to continue this story.  
  
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A dark void...  
  
I am standing on a piece of rock that is floating in an endless expanse of black. Before me, a sort of throne has been carved into a small outcropping of rocks. "Where the hell am I," I ask myself silently as I look into the darkness around me. "In your mind, stupid. Where did you think we were, Atlas City?!" My eyes snap back to the ersatz throne. Upon it now rests the childlike Mazoku himself.  
  
You know, this is the first time I've ever gotten to speak to Phibrizo directly. Usually, he just floods my mind with his own twisted ideas. But, here he sits, a bright smile upon his seemingly young face. He might as well not bother. I know he isn't as innocent as he portrays himself to be, not by any stretch of the imagination. His feet don't quite reach the ground. He is wearing the usual sky-blue jumpsuit thing.  
  
"I'll bet," he begins, "that your next question will be, 'why are we here.' Well, although you've basically accepted me by now, you seem to have some lingering thoughts that I will simply leave you when I am done." He grins. "Sorry, it doesn't work like that."  
  
He adjusts his position in the throne to make himself more comfortable, then continues. "The truth of the matter is that, well, those memories of your old life are false. You've never even been to this parallel universe that you keep claiming you are from. Okaasama created you specifically for the purpose of being a vessel for my rebirth. From there, it was a simple matter of giving you a few memories, so that your mind will fill in the gaps."  
  
"I don't understand. Why did she not just resurrect you outright? Why go through me?" Phibrizo shrugs in response. "As Xellos once put it, she is a capricious mother. But, anyway, let's get back to what I was telling you." He smiled. "You are me, as far as either of us are concerned. The only reason that you are still you is because, quite simply, you are incomplete. She gave you emotions, a human heart. Gods only know why, since they will go to waste on you. But don't worry, we'll be back to our old self soon."  
  
"Will I still have some part of me?" Phib shrugs. "More than likely, you'll just become some hapless ghost inside my mind, if I don't destroy you outright. But who knows, Mother might just let you go, let you start a new life, though I doubt it." He gives a kawaii smile, the kind that can make someone sick sometimes.. "Well, at least I'll never go hungry, what with all the yummy misery you'll be giving off. I just hope I don't get tired of it."  
  
Then I grinned. "What makes you think I won't just kill myself and deny you your resurrection?" Phibby doesn't look the least bit rattled. "What makes you think you CAN? Furthermore, what makes you think I would LET YOU? You're not in full control of your body anymore, you know. I could easily stop any suicide attempts."  
  
"Would that include, possibly, going back to Lina and letting her nuke us?" Phib nods. "You forget, I have all the powers, not you. You wouldn't even be able to get out of the temple without my permission, and since we share the same mind for the time being, lying sure as hell won't work, so don't even think about that."  
  
"Well, I'm getting bored. Let's go back to my temple and...play." Gulp. Play? Considering who I'm talking to, "play" could mean any number of things. But, before I have a chance to object, we're back in the temple. I walk over to a clear spot on the floor, sit down, draw a circle, and Phibby, controlling my body at the moment, begins playing marbles with a few soul orbs. I manage to get one of the marbles out of the circle, but the one I flicked cracks open like an egg. Oops.  
  
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Author's note: About the marbles thing, I kinda ran out of ideas on how to end this chapter. If anyone has any ideas on where this story should go from here, include them in your reviews. Who knows, I might use them and give you credit! But, as always, I'm not going to start the next chapter until I get some reviews, so please review. 


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